Earth's Layers & Plate Tectonics
Question: This is the outermost, thinnest layer of the Earth that we walk on.
Answer: What is the crust?
Question: This is the process where liquid water heats up and turns into an invisible gas called water vapor.
Answer: What is evaporation?
Question: This is the basic, fundamental unit of all living things.
Answer: What is a cell?
Question: This type of energy is commonly known as the energy of motion, like a rolling bowling ball.
Answer: What is kinetic energy?
Question: This is the force that keeps the planets in our solar system orbiting around the Sun.
Answer: What is gravity?
Question: This is the thickest layer of the Earth, located directly under the crust, made of hot, semi-solid rock.
Answer: What is the mantle?
Question: This instrument is used by meteorologists to measure air temperature.
Answer: What is a thermometer?
Question: In an ecosystem, organisms like plants that make their own food using sunlight are called this.
Answer: What are producers?
Question: A rubber band stretched tightly but not yet released is an excellent example of this type of stored energy.
Answer: What is potential energy?
Question: It takes planet Earth this long to complete one full revolution around the Sun.
Answer: What is 365 days (or one year)?
Question: Alfred Wegener proposed this theory, which states that Earth's continents were once joined together as a supercontinent called Pangea and have since drifted apart.
Answer: What is continental drift?
Question: This happens when water vapor cools down and turns back into liquid water droplets, which forms clouds.
Answer: What is condensation?
Question: Unlike animal cells, plant cells have this rigid, outer layer that gives them a rectangular shape and structural support.
Answer: What is a cell wall?
Question: Sound travels in this type of wave, where particles vibrate back and forth in the same direction the wave travels.
Answer: What is a longitudinal wave (or compression wave)?
Question: Earth experiences seasons because its axis is tilted at an angle of roughly this many degrees.
Answer: What is 23.5 degrees?
Question: This type of plate boundary occurs when two tectonic plates smash directly into each other, often forming mountain ranges.
Answer: What is a convergent boundary?
Question: This is the weight of the air pressing down on Earth's surface, measured by a barometer.
Answer: What is air pressure (or atmospheric pressure)?
Question: This is the term for any living or once-living part of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and bacteria.
Answer: What is a biotic factor?
Question: This is the term for the number of waves that pass a fixed point in a given amount of time, which determines the pitch of a sound.
Answer: What is frequency?
Question: This phase of the Moon occurs when the Moon is positioned directly between the Earth and the Sun, making it invisible in the night sky.
Answer: What is a New Moon?
Question: This liquid layer of the Earth, made of iron and nickel, is responsible for creating Earth's magnetic field.
Answer: What is the outer core?
Question: This global wind pattern blows from east to west near the equator and was historically used by sailors to steer cargo ships.
Answer: What are the trade winds?
Question: In a food web, this term describes an animal that hunts and eats other animals.
Answer: What is a predator (or secondary/tertiary consumer)?
Question: This law of science states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change from one form to another.
Answer: What is the Law of Conservation of Energy?
Question: This term describes a alignment where the Moon passes directly through the Earth's shadow, turning a reddish color.
Answer: What is a lunar eclipse?